Vegan Lemon Bars

adapted from the 'Lemon Walnut Bars' recipe in The Gamble House Cookbook

Crust:
1/2 cup Earth Balance, softened, plus extra for the pan
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 Tbsp grated lemon zest

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9" x 13" cake pan or baking dish.

Beat Earth Balance, sugar, and lemon zest with a mixer or by hand until creamy. Gradually mix in flour to form a soft, crumbly dough. Press evenly into a prepared pan.

Bake until golden around the edges, 10-12 minutes.

Filling:
2 Follow Your Heart VeganEggs**
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp baking powder
1 tsp grated lemon zest

In a bowl, whisk the eggs, brown sugar, baking powder, and lemon zest. Spread evenly over the baked crust.

Return to oven and bake until golden, 15-20 minutes.

** Mixed per the package directions, VeganEgg actually produces much more liquid than 2 real eggs would. So you can't do a one-to-one swap in baking recipes (this one originally called for 2 eggs). The easiest suggestion I've seen is to mix up the egg replacer in whatever quantity is called for in the recipe, but then only use 3 Tbsp for each egg needed. That leaves an awful lot of waste, though, for such an expensive product. When I made this filling, I used a full two eggs' worth of VeganEgg, but when I could see that it would be too thin, I added a little extra flour and a few Tbsps of corn starch, and they turned out great!

Lemon Glaze:
1 Tbsp Earth Balance
1 cup powdered sugar
2 Tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice

Beat Earth Balance, sugar, and lemon juice until smooth. Spread evenly over hot filling, just after it has been removed from the oven.***

Let cool completely in the pan on a rack. Cut into bars or squares.

Yield: 24 squares (6 rows x 4 rows) or 32 bars (8 rows x 4 rows)

*** Spread carefully! I started out using a spatula to spread the glaze, but the hot filling was too delicate and it pulled. I had better success just pouring the glaze on and then tipping the pan to let it spread naturally. After these have cooled enough to put in the refrigerator, I recommend letting them stay in there, covered, for about 24 hours - these are definitely better eaten the next day.